Rice Lake Fishing Reports

[fishtrapgirl]

Anyone been out on any lakes around the Rice Lake area? Just curious as to how much ice you are finding. Hoping to get out next weekend if the ice is good.

fishtrapgirl

[snoozebutton]

We got off to a good start, 4 to 5 inches on smaller lakes and bays, but this snow is going hurt. There was only an inch or 2 on the larger lakes and now it's going to take several weeks for them to firm up. Not only that but you won't be able to see where the good ice ends and the bad ice starts.

When we had that cold weather earlier, we also had a lot of wind with it so we didn't get a good freeze on the bigger lakes. Sorry I can't help you more.

[eskay]

Red Cedar is still open, Long Lake is still open. Was by both on Friday and Saturday. The bays are freezing up, but the main bodies of water are still wide open. I'm not sure about the smaller lakes around. I haven't seen or heard of anyone ice fishing anywhere around yet.

[Walleye Guy]

Anybody been by or on Big Round Lake (between Cumberland & Luck)? Just wondering how it iced up.

Thanks in advance.

[Ole54868]

July 8, 2008—(Rice Lake, WI) — There’s always that one magic time of the

year when everything seems to be biting. In Rice Lake, that time is now.

Bluegill, crappie, smallmouth and largemouth bass, walleye—take your pick.

Summertime, warm weather and hungry bluegills are the perfect

ingredients for a great day of fishing. Bluegills are currently spawning

in Rice Lake, and anglers are pulling in lots of fish. Baits range from

leeches to “Gulp” brand maggots and crawlers. But the fish really don’t

seem to mind what you’re throwing at them. And when a bull bluegill

takes the bait, they can really pack a wallop.

Crappies are more scattered now than the bluegills, but are biting quite

consistently. A good technique to use when targeting crappie is to troll

with beetle spins until you start catching fish. Then, stop the boat and

fish that area with jigs, spinners or live bait.

Walleye are also biting. The water temperatures are right where they

should be for this time of year, and the walleye seem to be where they

should be as well. Mid-lake humps and deep drop-offs can produce fish

when light conditions aren’t ideal. Under cloudy skies or in low-light

conditions, cover shallower water.

Bass anglers will find the fish biting too. During the hottest part of

the day when other species of fish aren’t feeling very hungry,

smallmouth and largemouth bass will continue to produce strikes.

If it sounds like there’s a lot of good fishing to be had in Rice

Lake—there is! Get out there while they’re biting.

[Report written by Rice Lake Tourism, with fishing intelligence courtesy of Frank Zumpf from the Rainbow Home Center in Rice Lake.]

[Ole54868]

Ice on area lakes continued to thicken and fish continued to bite over the past week.

Good ice and favorable weather conditions attracted good numbers of anglers to area lakes. Both bluegills and crappie were biting very well.

Walleye fishing also improved compared to the previous week. Several anglers had some notable catches, including one walleye over 31 inches long.

Ice on the lakes was more than a foot nearly everywhere, with 14 to 16 inches of ice in some places. Over the next week, rising daytime temperatures means the weather should be excellent for ice fishing.

Active fish, solid ice and good weather—this week should be perfect for ice fishing. Go out and drill a few holes in the ice!